No Ordinary Day , Tate, Harley [ebook offline .TXT] 📗

CropForward was the largest agricultural research company in the world, manufacturing everything from pesticide to fertilizer to seeds specifically engineered to resist both. Thanks to their products, the world produced enough food to feed one and a half times the current global population. No one wanted to go back to the days of global food insecurity and lower yields that could be destroyed by a single weather event or insect infestation.

And Emma wholeheartedly agreed. It’s why she turned down working on her family’s farm back in Idaho and, as her father put it, sold out to work for big agriculture. But there was a difference between feeding the world and making them sick.

“Stop worrying and get yourself together.” She muttered the words to herself as she walked to her car. Her upcoming testimony before Congress would soon be out there for the whole world to see. Maybe after she testified, she could finally sleep at night.

As she started her car, a black sedan eased through the parking lot and onto the street. The hairs on the back of her neck pricked again. Three days ago, Gloria reached out, complaining about being followed. Emma pulled up the text exchange on her phone.

Gloria: Have you noticed anyone lurking around?

Emma: No. Have you?

Gloria: A black car. It parked outside my place two nights in a row.

Emma: Could be anyone.

Gloria: I don’t think so. Keep your eyes open.

Emma frowned. Was Gloria really being watched? She risked a quick glance out the window. The black car was gone.  It was a coincidence, right?

She fired off a quick text to ease her mind. How are you? Any more watchers?

After slipping the phone into her bag, she pulled out of the apartment complex and headed south into town. If she hurried, she could still grab a bite to eat and make it to work on time.

Twenty minutes later, the drive-thru line for Nancy’s Bagels stretched the length of the shop and onto the street. Emma groaned. She didn’t have time to wait in that line. From the looks of it, only a handful of regulars sat in the window booths. After everything with CropForward, she’d taken to drive-thru only to avoid any uncomfortable conversations.

She could skip breakfast, but that meant stale coffee and an unpleasant conversation with whomever was lurking in the break room as she used the vending machine. With a deep breath, Emma swung into the closest parking spot.

“Emma! Hey, I haven’t seen you outside of your car in months.” Dave, the college kid who manned the morning rush every day smiled as she walked inside. “I forgot how tall you are!”

Emma smiled, trepidation fleeing at his warm reception. “Five eight and a half, thank you very much.”

“Your usual?”

She glanced up at the board. “Let’s change it up today. An everything with extra cream cheese and a medium coffee.”

“You got it.”

As she waited for her order, Emma walked over to the coffee station with an empty cup.

“You following the news?” One of the regulars nodded up toward the TV.

Oh, no. Not again. Emma braced herself as she looked up, ready to see CropForward’s logo plastered across the TV, but instead a video of what looked like a huge fireball bursting from the sun filled the screen. She shook her head at the older man. “Can’t say that I have. What is it?”

“A CME. Like the Carrington Event.”

“I’m sorry?”

“I thought a scientist like you would know for sure.” He waved a boney, gnarled finger at her lab coat. “A coronal mass ejection. It can knock out electricity for hundreds of miles.”

“Seriously?” Emma glanced back at the TV. According to the closed captioning, NASA believed the CME would be mild, with effects limited to a show of the northern lights as low as Colorado and some mild GPS disruptions. It must have been the same story carried on the morning news she watched at home. “It doesn’t sound that bad to me.”

“You always believe everything you see on TV?”

Emma blinked. “No. I don’t.” She thought of all the CropForward ads touting the safety of their Seeds of the Future when rats she cared for in the lab were going sterile and losing all their hair. Maybe she shouldn’t be so dismissive. “When will this happen?’

“Estimates are later today. If I were you, I’d make sure I had everything I needed if the power goes out.”

Emma looked around, thinking. What would she need? Extra food? Candles? She glanced at her watch. No time to stop. Whatever she needed would have to wait until after work.

“Order for Emma!”

“That’s me. Thanks for the chat.”

“You be careful. Even good people have to make hard choices sometimes.”

Emma paused. Was he still talking about the sun? She glanced up at the TV and noted the time. Crap! She had to get going. Emma nodded her thanks, hurried to grab her breakfast, and rushed out the door.

At five to nine, she pulled into the parking deck and squeezed into the empty electric spot. The best thing about driving a Chevy Volt was the guaranteed parking spot right outside the elevator. With her bag shoved under her shoulder and her half-a-bagel-breakfast sandwiched between her teeth, she plugged in the car and ran for the elevator.

The doors slid open a moment after Emma pushed the button and she rushed on. The only other occupant was a man in his thirties wearing a black, close-fitting sweater and an expression that told her he couldn’t care less. What was that song about smiling once in a while? He’d definitely look a whole lot better if he loosened up.

Not that there wasn’t something appealing about his tight jaw and obvious level of fitness, but she doubted any man would be interested in her now. She could see the first date in her head.

Mr. Elevator, a businessman with an upward trajectory in life, smiling over a glass of merlot. “And what do you do?”

“Oh, I’m an agricultural research scientist. Not really working in my field right now, though.”

“Why’s that?”

“Because